Cate wins Oscar

Cate Blanchett has capped off a stellar awards season winning the Oscar for best actress for her role in Blue Jasmine.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: Australians have picked up a swag of Oscars at the Academy Awards. Cate Blanchett capped off a stellar awards season, winning Best Actress for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, while designer Catherine Martin became Australia's most prolific Oscar winner. She picked up two awards for her work on The Great Gatsby, bringing her career total to four. Jane Cowan has all the details from Hollywood.

JANE COWAN, REPORTER: Glittering in gold, Cate Blanchett owned the red carpet, and by the end of the night, the Oscar for Best Actress.

CATE BLANCHETT, BEST ACTRESS WINNER: Those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the centre are niche experiences - they are not.

JANE COWAN: Her portrayal of a fallen socialite in Blue Jasmine is her second Academy Award and comes despite controversy over Woody Allen's personal life.

This is Cate Blanchett's second win at the Oscars after taking home Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for her role in The Aviator. It makes her the first Australian actor to ever claim Hollywood's top honour twice.

Also breaking records, fellow Australian Catherine Martin took two Oscars in one night, both for The Great Gatsby. The first came with praise for her costume team back in Sydney, hard at work on the stage production of Strictly Ballroom.

???: So that was really a buzz. I got a buzz out of that, yeah.

JANE COWAN: Martin now has four statues for the mantelpiece.

CATHERINE MARTIN, FOUR-TIME OSCAR WINNER: And of course my incomparable husband, Baz Luhrmann. He makes it all possible. He dreams the dream.

JANE COWAN: It was also a dream come true for Sydney set designer Beverley Dunn, who joined Catherine Martin back on stage for production design.

BEVERLEY DUNN, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: And believe you me, on Gatsby there were many, many very talented technicians who worked on the film.